Former House Agriculture Committee chairman Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) stopped by the Agri-Pulse Ag Day kickoff event Tuesday evening and commented on the budget plan unveiled by House Republicans would protect 2014 Farm Bill programs.

“The 2014 Farm Bill is primarily mandatory spending for the next five years but there’s a certain amount of discretionary spending, like day to day operations at USDA,” said Lucas, explaining that the annual appropriations bill for that spending is where farm bill programs are at risk. “So this is the first step in a long process of protecting the resources that the House and the Senate and the president agreed should be available for production ag and rural America.”

Lucas says events like National Ag Day help agriculture stay visible in Washington and to educate new members of Congress. “The turnover in membership in the U.S. House and Senate in the last decade has been nothing short of incredible,” he said. “Literally half the House wasn’t here six years ago.”

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Rep. Lucas here: Interview with Rep. Frank Lucas, R-OK

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